1

The tension hung over the air with quiet dread over the dinner table. I held my breath waiting for when madam Linda would launch her first round of attack.

Then she finally did.

“Pass the salt, Selene,” my foster mother said breaking the ice. Her voice rang sharp enough to slice through the clatter of plates.

It wasn’t really a request. It never was.

I reached for the small silver shaker beside me, my fingers brushing the polished wood of the long dining table. The air in the hall was thick, heavy with the scents of roasted venison and herbs, and yet beneath it all there was something sour mockery, waiting to be served.

My hand barely touched the salt when her lips curved in that familiar, disdainful smirk. “Ah. Even in simple things, she hesitates.”

A ripple of amusement moved through the table. My foster sisters giggled behind their hands, as though we were still children at play, and I was the punchline of their favorite game.

I set the salt shaker down gently by her plate, ignoring the sting in my chest. “Here, Mother.” The word felt hollow in my mouth.

“You are not my mother,” I wanted to scream. But I swallowed it. As i always do.

Kael sat silently at the head of the table. He fixed his dark gaze on the meat before him as though the conversation had nothing to do with him. His hand rested loosely around his wine goblet, his strong fingers flexing idly. He didn’t even look at me. Not once.

Beside me, Maris leaned in with a soft smile. “Selene was just being careful,” she said lightly. “Don’t fault her for being gentle.”

Her words were smooth, a soothing balm, but her presence at my side only made the spotlight hotter. My foster mother’s brows arched high, and my eldest foster sister, Helena, snorted into her cup.

“Gentle?” Helena mocked. “That’s one word for it. Timid is another. Weak, perhaps. A Luna ought to command respect, not tremble at dinner over basic condiments.”

Heat flared to my cheeks. I wanted to rise, to speak, to remind them that it wasn't a weakness to choose my silence over venom. But the words remained in my throat.

“You forget,” my foster father added, his deep voice heavy with derision, “that she is not of our blood. We raised her, yes, but breeding will always show. One cannot make a Luna out of a stray.”

The word cracked against my ears like a whip: stray.

Every muscle in my body tightened.

My foster mother’s smile widened, cruel and deliberate. “A stray dressed in silk.” Her gaze lingered on my gown, pale blue satin Maris helped me choose, delicate embroidery catching the firelight. “No matter what she wears, the truth is written in her bones.”

A chorus of agreement murmured around the table.

Maris stiffened beside me. “That’s unkind,” she said quickly. “Selene ” “Maris,” I whispered, touching her hand under the table. “Don’t.”

But Helena leaned forward, her voice rising. “No, let her. Let her hear the truth. We are tired of playing pretend.”

My younger foster sister, Lyra, smirked. “It must be exhausting, to live every day knowing everyone sees through you.”

The laughter that followed was sharp and merciless.

I gripped the edge of the table, nails digging into the polished surface. My heart pounded in my ears.

“Enough,” I said softly, but no one heard me.

My foster father lifted his goblet in a mock toast. “To the Alpha’s pity, then, for choosing a Luna from the gutter.”

Laughter roared again, and this time even the servants’ lips twitched as they tried not to look.

My throat burned. I turned my gaze to Kael, my mate, the one person who could end this with a single word.

But he said nothing. He ate silently, drinking at intervals. He said nothing, letting them tear me to pieces at his table.

“Enough!” My voice cracked louder this time, echoing through the hall. The laughter died instantly. The clatter of cutlery ceased.

I pushed my chair back, the scrape against the stone floor harsh in the silence. My chest heaved as I looked around at their smug, pitiless faces.

“You will not call me stray again,” I said, my voice trembling but clear. “You will not belittle me in whispers or in laughter. I have endured your cruelty for years, but I will not sit silent while you humiliate me in front of my mate.”

The words tore free, raw and jagged, and for a moment I almost believed they were strong enough to pierce the armor of their contempt.

But no.

Helena sneered. “Listen to her, pretending she belongs.”

My foster mother folded her napkin with delicate precision. “Run, little stray. That’s what you do best.”

Tears burned my eyes, hot and furious. I spun away before they could fall, before they could see me break. The grand hall doors slammed shut behind me as I fled into the cool night air, my breath hitching.

“Selene!” Maris’s voice echoed after me. She quickly followed me, her hand catching my arm as I stumbled into the gardens. “Don’t let them get to you ”

“They always get to me!” I gasped, wrenching my arm free. “And Kael… Kael just sits there and says nothing. He lets them ” My words faltered, broken by the sob lodged in my throat.

Maris’s eyes softened with pity, her hands reaching for mine. “You are the Luna,” she whispered. “With or without their approval. You cannot let their words define you.”

But the cracks were already splitting wide inside me.

Later, when the moon had climbed high and silence swallowed the estate, I stood in my chambers, waiting.

The bed on his side remained cold.

When Kael finally entered, his scent was faint with pine and iron, my chest ached with both relief and dread.

“Kael,” I said, my voice small but urgent.

He removed his cloak, his expression unreadable. “It’s late, Selene.” “I need to speak with you.”

He stilled, then turned, his dark eyes meeting mine at last. “About what?”

“About tonight. About them. My foster family.” My voice trembled, but I forced myself to go on. “They humiliated me in front of you. They called me a stray. They mocked me again. They keep mocking me and you said nothing. You just let them.”

His jaw tightened, but he didn’t speak.

“Do you not care?” I whispered. “Do you not see what they do to me? Your silence tells them it is allowed. That I am weak. That I am unworthy.”

Kael’s eyes hardened, cold steel in the firelight. “If you are so concerned with whispers, then perhaps you are unworthy.”

The words struck harder than any insult my foster family had ever thrown.

I shook my head, disbelief flooding me. “How can you say that? I am your mate. Your Luna.”

“You are my mate,” he said flatly. “But being Luna is more than wearing a crown or sitting at my side. It means bearing the weight without complaint. If you cannot endure a few words, then you have no business calling yourself Luna.”

I stared at him, my chest hollow, my voice breaking. “So you would have me suffer in silence? Let them tear me apart until nothing is left?”

Kael stepped back, his gaze already drifting toward the door. “If you cannot deal with it, Selene, then perhaps you have no business being Luna at all. Next time you deal with it. Don't talk to me about this issues again.”

The words hung between us, final and merciless.

And then he turned, leaving me standing al

one in the flickering shadows, my heart shattering in the echo of his footsteps.